One of the best parts of Bates is the quality of the faculty. They are engaged, engaging, and truly and honestly interested in their students. Most students develop lasting and valuable connections with faculty, often through senior theses. Because you work one-on-one with a professor for either a semester or a year, it’s really easy to develop really great relationships with faculty. Read more…

One of my absolute favorite Bates traditions is the Harvest dinner. Every fall, around Thanksgiving, Bates celebrates by decking the campus (and particularly Commons) in very seasonal style. And the best part is the food! Last night, I gorged myself on pumpkin soup, fancy cheese, mashed potatoes, and succotash. There was also lobster mac-n-cheese, though, as a vegetarian, that wasn’t really my cup of tea. But apparently it was delicious. Read more

Locals have long wondered what Bates College officials really thought of their host community. Officially, that relationships has always been cordial, and Bates has usually invited the community to college programs. Thousands of Bates students, meanwhile, have participated in the college’s excellent community service program. But, secretly, did they lament being located in the midst of what has long been considered one of Maine’s toughest and grittiest mill towns? Did they curse the gods that they weren’t founded in a cute little college town that more closely matched their ivy league image? Or was all that wondering about what they thought was just our low self-esteem showing? Well, wonder no longer… Read more

“Is Lewiston going foody?” is what classical and medieval studies professor Margaret Imber posted on Facebook after a Japanese restaurant opened in the former Ames department store space in the Lewiston Mall…” read more

At Bates, one of my good friends from Jamaica (and probably my only friend from Jamaica), is a huge fan of National Geographic. Graeme is an intellectual fellow, but when he mentioned to me that he wanted a year’s subscription to National Geographic for Christmas (or something along those lines), I couldn’t help but giggle internally at his overabundance of intellectual prowess. He is a normal all-round stellar guy who just happens to harbor a genius brain inside that head of his.

I get it though. National Geographic is so fascinating. The photographers and film technicians for National Geographic are seeing sights that most often, no one else in the world will ever be able to first-hand experience or witness…read on

Last weekend, I hiked up Cotopaxi, the tallest active volcano in the world. It reaches nearly to 6,000 meters (which is over 19,000 feet). Yikes! Climbing it was really tough. I happened to plan my trip during a snowstorm, so it was very cold and windy and snowy. It was still a lot of fun. After a bus ride from Quito to part way up the slope, we hiked up for about an hour and a half to a refuge huddled against the wind high on the mountain. There we had lunch—soup and sandwiches, and caught our breath (the air was really thin up that high), before heading back down. It was fun. See more pictures here

I moved back up to Lewiston a few weeks ago to start research for my senior thesis in geology. Geology theses are kind of unique; it’s mandatory that you take a full year to complete your work, and students usually begin their research well before the start of the academic session. This will be my first summer spent in Maine, and I’ve got big plans…To read more about her plans, tune in to Margaret’s post